Long ago I wished to leave
"The house where I was born;"
Long ago I used to grieve,
My home seemed so forlorn.
In other years, its silent rooms
Were filled with haunting fears;
Now, their very memory comes
O'ercharged with tender tears.

Life and marriage I have known.
Things once deemed so bright;
Now, how utterly is flown
Every ray of light!
'Mid the unknown sea, of life
I no blest isle have found;
At last, through all its wild wave's strife,
My bark is homeward bound.

Farewell, dark and rolling deep!
Farewell, foreign shore!
Open, in unclouded sweep,
Thou glorious realm before!
Yet, though I had safely pass'd
That weary, vexed main,
One loved voice, through surge and blast
Could call me back again.

Though the soul's bright morning rose
O'er Paradise for me,
William! Even from Heaven's repose
I'd turn, invoked by thee!
Storm nor surge should e'er arrest
My soul, exalting then:
All my heaven was once thy breast,
Would it were mine again

BTW The poem is called Regret

From poetryfoundation.org --

Four of her poems--"The Wife's Will," "The Wood," "Regret," and "Apostasy"--together constitute a single story of an English wife who chooses to accompany her husband into political exile in France, where she affirms at the end of her life a loyalty to her native faith, the religion of romantic love:

'Tis my religion thus to love,
My creed thus fixed to be;
Not Death shall shake, nor Priestcraft break
My rock-like constancy!

Presented through extended monologues, this story effectively develops the character of the speaker through four dramatically realized situations in which she addresses an implied audience--William in the first three poems, a French-Catholic priest in the last. These poems thus resemble both the long narrative poem that was to become popular in Victorian England.
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Are you supposed to explicate the poem line by line?

Yes

Okay, so what is the speaker (the English wife who goes into political exile and into another country with her husband) saying here?

Long ago I wished to leave
"The house where I was born;"
Long ago I used to grieve,
My home seemed so forlorn.
In other years, its silent rooms
Were filled with haunting fears;
Now, their very memory comes
Overcharged with tender tears.

Oh okay, thank you

We're not finished. We have to take apart this poem!!

Ya, okay

Tell me what the first verse means, what the English wife is thinking.

She is sad and she wants to leave her house. And she is thinking of bad memories that had happened in there.

Nope, Try again. Read the first two lines carefully.

She has wished to leave her house

How old was she when she wished that?

I don't know

Long ago I wished to leave
"The house where I was born;"
Long ago I used to grieve,
My home seemed so forlorn.

When I was a girl and still lived at home, the grass was greener on the other side of the fence. Home seemed so boring and even so sad, so boring, so depressing. I couldn't wait to grow up and get away from home.

In other years, its silent rooms
Were filled with haunting fears;
Now, their very memory comes
O'ercharged with tender tears.

As I got older, things got worse and my feelings against being at home got stronger. And now when I remember home and being young and innocent, I feel like crying because I didn't appreciate it.

Then what happened?

Life and marriage I have known.
Things once deemed so bright;
Now, how utterly is flown
Every ray of light!

Her life and marriage used to be brighter than it is now

Yes, she finally grew up, left home, got married, and things were good for a while, but time went by, and the happiness disappeared for various reasons.

'Mid the unknown sea of life
I no blest isle have found;
At last, through all its wild wave's strife,
My bark is homeward bound.

Then what thoughts does she have? What does the second line mean? What's a "bark"?

She can't find a place to settle or something. And I think a bark is like a boat or a ship

Her life was unsettled and she was lost at sea, but now her ship is on its way home.

And this verse?

Farewell, dark and rolling deep!
Farewell, foreign shore!
Open, in unclouded sweep,
Thou glorious realm before!
Yet, though I had safely pass'd
That weary, vexed main,
One loved voice, through surge and blast
Could call me back again.

Even though she is safely leaving a voice in her head can tell her to come back

And finally (William is her husband) --

Though the soul's bright morning rose
O'er Paradise for me,
William! even from Heaven's repose
I'd turn, invoked by thee!
Storm nor surge should e'er arrest
My soul, exalting then:
All my heaven was once thy breast,
Would it were mine again

I don't know the first two lines but she won't let the waves stop her from coming back. But she wants to return to the feelings she had with her husband.

Yes, his embrace once seemed like heaven, and she'd like to return to that feeling.

There are three poems that add to the story that is in this one.

Are you good with this poem?

Ya I am now, thank you sooo much for helping me with this

Let me know what happened in class.

Sure, thanks again :)